Process and apparatus for treating materials in centrifugals



9, 1940- J. P. MOGLAUGHLIN 2,186,336

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERI ALS IN CENTRIFUGALS Filed July 10, 1937 Z-Sheets-Sheet l WITNESSES lNVENTOR g-e John/Fj l Glaughz n v ATTORNEYS I '9, J. P. MOGLAUGHLIN 2,186,336

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIALS IN CENTRIFUGALS Filed July 10, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 47 l1 48 L A! WITNESSES I INVENTOR gal Jbhn EJfiQGZaughZmz M BY 44 MW ATTORNEYS atone-a Jan. 9, 1940 barren STATES PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING MATERIALS IN CENTRJFUGALS John McGlaughlin, Orugers, N. Y. Application July 10,1937, Serial No. 152,876 '7 Claims. (01. 210-74) This invention relates to a process and apparatus for treating materials particularly in centrifugal separators which are commonly known as centrifugals, and has for an object to provide a construction and method whereby the materials may be treated thoroughly and quickly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a process and apparatus wherein the necessity of frequent changing of linings by'reason of clog ingis eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a centrifugal formed to secure the desired treatment 'of any given material and to fiect a discharge in a few seconds without injury to the fabric filter lining,

An additional object of the invention is to provide an apparatus where complete washing or.

leaching of liquids or the-purification of collected solids may be performed in one operation.

Another and more specific object of the in.-

vention is to provide a structure for washing materials in a centrifugal machine by causing a counterflow of washing fluid while the machine is inoperation.

In the accompanying drawings: 7

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of an apparatus disclosing an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the basket shown in Fig. 1;-

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of part of the basket shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating how thesolid collected matter may be forced from the filtering lining.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, I indicates a casing which may be metal or other material and which is preferably annular and provided with a top 2 having an opening 3 which is approximately of the same diameter as the opening 4 in bottom 5.- The opening 4 is surrounded by an upstanding wall 6 so that any liquid dropping on the bottom 5 will not pass through opening 4 but will drain off through the drain or outlet member I. The casing l is also provided with a base 8 which is really a continuation of the side wall of the casing as shown in Fig. 1. A pair of brackets 9 and i0 may be formed integral with casing I or 4 independently thereof and rigidly secured therebe made in one piece as preferred and when completed present the structure shown in Fig. 1 which is provided with a bowl-shaped socket l2 adapted to receive the cup bearing l3 which coacts with the cone l4 and the balls l5. Tubular shaft II is provided with an integral annular. flange l6 which rests on top of the cone l4 whereby this shaft is rotatably supported and also supported so as to be permitted a slight swing- 5 ing motion. While the base 8 is shown as a continuation of the side wall, it will be understood that various other forms might be used without departing from the invention. Also the brackets 9 and II) have beenillustrated as curved and secured to the casing I. It will however be understood that the construction shown in the drawings is only for the purpose of illustrating one form of the invention. The support of the hollow shaft n and associated parts might be made I entirely separate from the casing l and in any desired form or structure. In Fig. 1 is shown a ballbearing support including the balls l5. However, it will readily be evident that other forms of bearing could be provided and if desired several bearings of any desired character used.

An annular cap I1 is bolted or otherwise rigthe reduced upper end of shaft loosely pro jects. An annular packing member l9 extends into the tubular member l8 and in fact is forced therein by the screw members 20 so as to compress the packing 2| and thereby provide a substantially air and water tight connection although permitting the shaft to rotate freely. The packing member I9 is formed with a tubular body 22 which presents a chamber 23 into which discharges the pipe 24 secured to member 22. Member 22 at the .upper end is provided with a restricted opening for rotatably receiving the upper end of the air tube 25 which is prevented from leaking by the packing gland 26. An air supply pipe 21 is connected with part 'of gland 26 0 to supply air, steam, or other matter under pressure to tube 25. A valve 28 is arranged in pipe 21 to shut off or control the flow of air through this pipe. It will be understood that pipe 21. is supplied with compressed air by a suitable 45 pump or other supply not shown. Pipe 24 is connected by suitable fittings to the respective supply pipes 29, 30, 3| and 32. These pipes may supply any desired gaseous matter or liquid matter to pipe 24. There is provided a control valve in each of these pipes so that the operator may readily determine what fluid or gaseous matter is supplied. Preferably air under pressure is supplied through pipe 29, cold water through pipe 30, steam through pipe 3|, and hot water through pipe 32. It will be understood, however, that acids or solutions of any kind could be supplied through any of these pipes according to the treatment desired for the material fed through the feed pipe 33 into the basket 34.

By construction just described it will be seen that basket 34 is swingably and rotatably mounted within the casing but out of contact therewith. By rotating the basket 34 centrifugal action will cause the material fed into the basket by means of feed pipe 33 to move' radially outwardly and thereby collect at the inner peripheral part of the basket. It is to be understood that any suitable material may be treated and by the construction presented this treatment may act in different ways on different materials. The basket 34 is preferably formed from metal and is provided with a tubular wall or body 35 which is imperforate and which merges into a top inwardly extending flange 36 which in a certain sense forms the top of the basket and presents an opening or aperture 31. At the bottom there is provided an inwardly extending flange 38 which forms the bottom of the basket. Flange 38 is provided with a depending annular wall 39 whereby there is an aperture or opening in the bottom. However, the wall 39 is provided with a number of webs or spokes 48 which are integral therewith or rigidly secured thereto. These spokes or webs are also integral with or rigidly secured to a sleeve or hub 4| which is keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to shaft Shaft H is threaded at the bottom for receiving the internally threaded cap 42 which is formed with a chamber 43 into which the shaft I which is hollow discharges. From chamber 43 liquid, air or other matter is discharged out through the respective pipes 44 into the basket 34 adjacent the inner surface of wall 35.

As indicated in Fig. 2 there are three pipes 44 although if desired more or even less could be provided. The small air pipe 24 is threaded into the division wall 45 so as to discharge into the auxiliary chamber 46 of cap 42. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 there are three pipes 41 leading from chamber 45 to the three drain valves 48. It will be understood that more or less pipes and drain valves could be used. From Fig. 1 it will beseen that each drain valve is provided with a chamber 49 carrying a spring 50 together .with a valve member 5| having a piston 52. Valve member 5| is adapted to be forced over by air or liquid from. pipe 41 to close the outlet 53. When the air or liquid is turned 011 the spring 50 immediately begins to function to open and maintain open the valve. A threaded tubular member 54 is screwed into the bottom 38 and freely communicates with the interior of basket 34 near the interior of wall 35. When certain materials are being treated the drain valve 48 is left open and consequently liquid passing through the filtering members 55 and the wire mesh members 56 will pass out through the drain valve. Where this action is not desired valve 28 is opened and air is allowed to enter so as to close all of the drain valves 48. 1

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the basket 34 is divided into a plurality of compartments by the division plates 5'! which are secured in place by welding or in any desired manner. Each of these plates is provided with an aperture 58'near wall 35 so as to permit the liquid to drain down into the respective valves 48. An annular wire mesh member 56 is presented in each of the comother materials from the solids.

partments and is substantially U-shaped in cross section. Interiorly of the wire mesh members 56 are arranged textile fabric filtering members 55 which are also annular and U-shaped in cross section at all points. Suitable clamping rings 59 are associated with each edge of each filtering member 55. These rings may be secured in place by bolts or other means as preferred. It will be understood, however, that these rings normally clamp the inner edges of the filtering members in place so that when the filtering members are to be cleaned they may be blown radially inwardly as shown in Fig. 3 without being removed from their correct position in the basket.

In order to prevent certain material being treated from passing out through the bottom opening 68 there is provided a cone 6| having an annular gasket 62 resting on the bottom 38. The upper part of cone 6| is provided with eye members 63 whereby a hook or other means may be interengaged therewith and the cone slid upwardly and out of the basket and easing. The cone 6| is naturally slidably mounted on the shaft H but by reason of the gasket 62 none of the liquid will flow through the opening 60. In treating different materials sometimes it is only desired to remove the excess water while in others it is desired to leach out and clean acids and Whenv a material to be treated is inserted through pipe 33 the basket 34 and parts carried thereby are rotating. The inserted material will soon fill the bottom compartment and will then rise and fill the next compartment and so on as far as there are compartments. In Fig. 3 only three compartments have been disclosed but it will be evident that a greater number or even a less number might be used without departing from the spirit of the invention.

When the parts are set as shown in Fig. 1 and the basket is rotating at a rather high rate of speed the liquid will pass through the various textile filter lining members into the wire mesh 56 and down to the various apertures 58 to the bottom of the basket. It will be understood that when an action of this kind takes place the liquid passing to the bottom of the basket will flow out through the various drain valves 48 and drop down onto the bottom 5, after which it will flow out through the outlet 1. This action continues until the various compartments have been substantially filled with solid matter". whereupon the further addition of material through pipe 33 is stopped and the basket is continued to rotate so as to cause as much of the liquid to fiow out of the solid matter as possible.

Usually the solid collected matter is almost free of loose or free liquid and the machine is stopped so as to remove this collected solid matter. As soon as the machine is stopped the valve 28 is opened in order to close drain valves 48 and the cone 6| is raised and preferably the pipe 33 is also elevated to be out of the way. After thesepreliminary adjustments air or steam or-other in not only removing the solid matter in a short 76 time, as for instance a few seconds, but also results in cleaning the textile fabric ready for a second use. v

After the solid matter has been removed from the chamber 8', water, steam or other cleaning medium may be forced through pipes 44 and the fabric linings 55 for thoroughly cleaning the same. As soon as the fabric lining has been cleaned as Just described, the rotation of the basket is resumed and the lining will quickly move radially outwardly or to the position shown in Fig. 1 ready to receive a second batch of material to be treated. Before the second batch of material to be treated is inserted through pipe 33, cone 6| will be lowered to the position shown in Fig. 1.

It will be noted that by holding the various drain valves closed the basket will act as an imperforate basket and excessive liquid will pass upwardly and over the top of flange 36. Where thebasket is 'to be used as a perforate basket, valves 48 are allowed to open and consequently the liquid will flow through the drain valves 48 in the usual way. It. will therefore be readily understood that the material being treated may be merely filtered or may be washed or leached once or several times as may be. necessary or desired by the operator. When applying gas, vapor, air or fluid to the outside of the fabric lining, the result will be to cause the lining to inflate-or bulge outwardly as shown in Fig. 3 and thus result in the solid matter or cake breaking loose from the lining due to the reversal or change in shape of the lining, which action is accelerated by a certain amount of the inflating medium passing with high velocity through the minute openings of the fabric lining. When it is desired to wash the fabric lining 55, a desired washing action may be accomplished by applying any suitable fluid such as acid or caustic solutions, laundry washing compounds, commercial solids, hot water, steam, and the like, which act to dissolve and wash away deposits of mineral salts,

greases, gums, and other particles of matter which are found to accumulate on the surface or in the interstices of the fabric used. I

By the construction set forth and the method used it will be seen that the apparatus may be almost in constant use and the successive treated material discharged at more or less regular intervals. Also it will be noted that it will not be necessary for anyone to enter or reach into the basket at-any time except when one, or more of the linings are being renewed.

I claim:

1. A centrifugal comprising a basket, means for rotatably supporting said basket and means for feeding material to be treated into said basket,

said basket including an imperforated tubular side wall, a top having a centrally positioned aperture, a bottom having a centrally positioned opening, means dividing the space enclosed by said side wall, top and bottom into annular compartments all open on the side facing the center of the basket, a'plurality of drain valves carried by said bottom near said side wall, and an independent filter member lining each of said compartments.

2. In a centrifugal, a basket provided with a tubular outer wall, a top inwardly extending flange, a bottom inwardly extending flange, andv a plurality of intermediate inwardly extending flanges forming a plurality of annular compart- I ments opening inwardly, a lining of wire mesh for each of said compartments, a lining of textile filtering fabric resting on each of said wire mesh lining and a pipe extending upwardly through the bottom flange of said basket behind said lining of textile filtering fabric for directing air under pressure against said lining of textile filtering fabric and the material carried thereby toward'the center of the basket to free the fabric of said material,

3...In a" centrifugal, a basket provided with a tubular body having a plurality of inwardly extending flanges for forming a plurality, of flltering compartments opening inwardly, a lining of textile filtering fabric for each of said compart- 4. In av centrifugal, a basket, a lining for saidbasket, a supporting hollow shaftsecured to said basket, means for rotating said shaft and basket, means for directing material to -be treated into said basket, the liquid in said material passing through said lining in one direction, means for directing a washing fluid into said hollow shaft, and means for directing said fluid from said shaft to the inner surface of the periphery of said basket back of said lining for causing said fluid to move through said lining in a reverse direction to the movement of said liquid.

5. In a centrifugal, a basket formed to function as a perforate basket and an imperforate basket, said basket being provided with a solid tubularwall merging at the top and bottom into inwardly extending top and bottom flange members, means between said flange members dividing the basket into peripheral compartments, a wire mesh lining for each of said compartments, a textile fabric lining for each of said compartments'resting on said wire mesh linings, a plurality of drain openings at the lower end of said basket which when in use cause the basket to act as a perforate basket, a valvefor each of said drain openings for closing the drain openings and thereby cause the basket to function as an imperforate basket, means for rotating said basket, and means for supplying'material to be treated to said basket while the same is rotating.

6. A centrifugal including a basket provided with an imperforate tubular wall, air closed drainage valvesat the bottom of said basket near the periphery thereof, means within said tubular wall acting in conjunction therewith for forming a plurality of compartments, a wire mesh lining for each compartment, a textile fabric lining arranged interiorly of said wire mesh linings, means for rotating said basket, tubular means for directing material to be treated into said basket, tubular means connected with said drain valves. for supplying air under pressure to said valves for closing the same, means for controlling the supply of air to said tubular means, and tubular means-for directing washing liquid under pressure in a reverse direction through said wire mesh and textile fabric for washing the contents of said basket.

filtering members arranged in said basket, each of said filtering members bung substantially U- t in! shaped in cross section at all points, means for shaft and said pipe for blowing said filtering directing material to be filtered into said filtering members radially inwardly for removing the mamembers, a pipe connecting said hollow shaft terial carried thereby after the actuation of the with the interior of said basket exteriorly of said centrifugal.

filtering members, and means for supplying a JOHN P. MCGLAUGHIIIN. l gaseous matter under pressure to said hollow 

